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I just moved from Farmingdale after living there seven years.
The Good stuff
Farmingdale is generally a blue collar type of town, getting more so the further you go from the village. Lots of people who live there have been people who grew up nearby or in town so there is a strong feeling of community. Anecdotally, I can tell you that people do seem to come back after living elsewhere. PTA and school board meetings are well attended, and there are strong sports and arts programs. It can be kind of cliqueish but I think you'll find that kind of behavior everywhere. The commute to NYC is manageable and pretty consistant at about an hour to and from Penn Station. Shopping is convenient with three supermarkets and Route 110's expanding shopping and entertainment options. New Island Hospital is nearby and provides pretty good care for a small place. The convenience of Bethpage golf courses are a bonus if you're a golfer. Child care options are also good. I know that people line up for the program at St. Luke's Lutheran as it is a five day program. I can personally vouch for Farmingdale Methodist's nursery school, which is smaller, less expensive and will take kids in diapers for toddler care. The teachers there are also very caring. The town also has a good library. Main Street is suffering from the affect of having two Wal Marts and a Target in the area, but the restaurants are very good. The Main Street area and the village are pretty well policed. The tap water is average. NYC's water is better but there are also worse ones around. Use as many water filters as you can anyway. With a strong history of defense contracting in the surrounding areas you don't know what's in the ground there.
Why Did I Move?
Complicated answer. The main reason is the same as other Long Island communities: the high property taxes and what you get back for your money. There is also some socioeconomic shifting going on. For the property taxes you're paying you get back an average school system which is disappointing. Farmingdale's school system is middle of the road statisitically in comparison with other LI schools and statewide. There is a Catholic School in the area with dedicated, and I mean dedicated, teachers and parents. If you can afford Catholic School with the tax bill, the parents and teachers at St. John the Baptist De La Salle school are just great. Can't say enough good things about them. Socioeconomically, the community is slowly changing. With the dingier parts of North Amityville to the east you're getting some bleedover of the characters there and their baggage. Shopping at the PathMark on Carmans Road can be scary in a boys in the hood kind of way. To be fair, I haven't seen much evidence of crime going up in my time there. I've heard rumors of gang activity in the main street Route 24 area but haven't seen anything I can tell you about. To their credit/discredit depending on your general worldview, the village government is actively maneuvering against such activity. They have somehow succeeded in eliminating some low income housing by the LIRR station which was, legitimately, an eyesore. South and East Farmingdale being in the furthest outreaches of the town of Babylon and don't get that kind of attention, but didn't necessarily have that specific issue.
The Big Picture
Overall, I would recommend Farmingdale for the small town feel of it and with the knowledge that you can do much worse. If I could have afforded the cost of Catholic School & taxes I probably would have stayed. The closer to the village and Nassau County the better. If you're moving in, aim for the better performing of the three elementary schools. You'll hear stuff about Half Hollow Hills school district, but my research didn't yield much of a difference. You can download the school report cards from the state education department's website. Just read them carefully as they are designed to mislead, but you can get what you need to know. Most of the listings will be with the Weichert Agency which has somehow managed to corner the town.
Wow, one of the best level headed posts I've ever read on here, I have rated it positively!
I just moved from Farmingdale after living there seven years.
The Good stuff
Farmingdale is generally a blue collar type of town, getting more so the further you go from the village. Lots of people who live there have been people who grew up nearby or in town so there is a strong feeling of community. Anecdotally, I can tell you that people do seem to come back after living elsewhere. PTA and school board meetings are well attended, and there are strong sports and arts programs. It can be kind of cliqueish but I think you'll find that kind of behavior everywhere. The commute to NYC is manageable and pretty consistant at about an hour to and from Penn Station. Shopping is convenient with three supermarkets and Route 110's expanding shopping and entertainment options. New Island Hospital is nearby and provides pretty good care for a small place. The convenience of Bethpage golf courses are a bonus if you're a golfer. Child care options are also good. I know that people line up for the program at St. Luke's Lutheran as it is a five day program. I can personally vouch for Farmingdale Methodist's nursery school, which is smaller, less expensive and will take kids in diapers for toddler care. The teachers there are also very caring. The town also has a good library. Main Street is suffering from the affect of having two Wal Marts and a Target in the area, but the restaurants are very good. The Main Street area and the village are pretty well policed. The tap water is average. NYC's water is better but there are also worse ones around. Use as many water filters as you can anyway. With a strong history of defense contracting in the surrounding areas you don't know what's in the ground there.
Why Did I Move?
Complicated answer. The main reason is the same as other Long Island communities: the high property taxes and what you get back for your money. There is also some socioeconomic shifting going on. For the property taxes you're paying you get back an average school system which is disappointing. Farmingdale's school system is middle of the road statisitically in comparison with other LI schools and statewide. There is a Catholic School in the area with dedicated, and I mean dedicated, teachers and parents. If you can afford Catholic School with the tax bill, the parents and teachers at St. John the Baptist De La Salle school are just great. Can't say enough good things about them. Socioeconomically, the community is slowly changing. With the dingier parts of North Amityville to the east you're getting some bleedover of the characters there and their baggage. Shopping at the PathMark on Carmans Road can be scary in a boys in the hood kind of way. To be fair, I haven't seen much evidence of crime going up in my time there. I've heard rumors of gang activity in the main street Route 24 area but haven't seen anything I can tell you about. To their credit/discredit depending on your general worldview, the village government is actively maneuvering against such activity. They have somehow succeeded in eliminating some low income housing by the LIRR station which was, legitimately, an eyesore. South and East Farmingdale being in the furthest outreaches of the town of Babylon and don't get that kind of attention, but didn't necessarily have that specific issue.
The Big Picture
Overall, I would recommend Farmingdale for the small town feel of it and with the knowledge that you can do much worse. If I could have afforded the cost of Catholic School & taxes I probably would have stayed. The closer to the village and Nassau County the better. If you're moving in, aim for the better performing of the three elementary schools. You'll hear stuff about Half Hollow Hills school district, but my research didn't yield much of a difference. You can download the school report cards from the state education department's website. Just read them carefully as they are designed to mislead, but you can get what you need to know. Most of the listings will be with the Weichert Agency which has somehow managed to corner the town.
Hey Nalgatriste,
My wife and I are about to go to contract on a home on reeves off melville road through a private transaction. I was led to believe that this being HHH school district is a big plus over farmingdale. My wife graduated Farmingdale High school in 1996 and did not want to purchase a home with this school district because she said the school is going down hill. Do you agree with this and did you have kids who went to FHS before your move? I am asking this before we go to contract because there are alot of cheaper homes than the one we are buying in the FHS district vs HHH district. Thanks.
Hey Nalgatriste,
I am asking this before we go to contract because there are alot of cheaper homes than the one we are buying in the FHS district vs HHH district. Thanks.
I don't live in either district but we all know enough to know you should absolutely pay the extra $ for a home in the HHH district. Not a question about it.
I don't live in either district but we all know enough to know you should absolutely pay the extra $ for a home in the HHH district. Not a question about it.
Sorry Glad2Bhere, I've got to defend my hamlet here and disagree with you. "Absolutely" is a pretty strong word. Although Max may very well choose the HHH schools, I don't believe one should generalize a situation by assuming that one's opinion fits everyone. After all, opinions are like _____, everybody has them.
I'm probably the only person who's posted in this thread that actually has kids in the F'dale district. So even though my thoughts are merely an opinion, they are based from a close perspective. To be clear, I have a child in the MS and another in the HS and that certainly gives me some opinions based in experience. I'll also attempt to read into the numbers a little bit for comparisons sake. Again, all strictly opinion as I am not a professional educator.
Starting with personal experience in dealings with, and observations of the F'dale district. I have found that the majority of the teaching staff at all levels are dedicated and competent folks. Many times over the years my wife and I received excellent constructive criticism regarding our children's school work. We have seen "tough" teachers and "easy" teachers, and most have a method to their madness which helps the kids. The quality, quantity and difficulty of the work assigned to my kids, and their friends, certainly seems up to, and above standard. In fact, at this point I'm limited in the amount of help I can provide them since most of it is goes way over my head. The district, particularly in the middle and secondary levels, has a large variety of AP and other specialized courses of study which all aid in the pursuit of college acceptance. Additionally, to address the safety minded, so far my kids have not had any unusual experiences as it relates to gangs, violence or the like. Actually, it seems that a very large percentage of my kid's friend's parents are police officers and firemen, and as such are very respectful kids.
As far as the numbers, there is no doubt that other districts deliver higher numbers. But did you know that the avg. class size for math and English in for both HHH West and F'dale HS are identical? Yes, 99% of HHH West 2006 graduates went on to college, but are you aware that for F'dale the number is 90%? As far as Regents diplomas, HHH West is 97% to F'dales 84%. HHH certainly has the higher numbers, but in my opinion the F'dale numbers are not the "absolutely" need to stay away from type. To me, the bottom line is that F'dale is a larger school population wise (almost double) and naturally that means a wider socio economic base is part of the student population. This means that F'dale should be expected to generate lower stats compared to smaller and richer schools. It does not mean that F'dale is a bad school. In fact you could go the other way and say the F'dale kids have an advantage since they deal in a more real world environment.
There are other factors that people should consider in determining what is best for them as well. On is distance their kids will need to go to get to their various schools over the years. That may not seem important, but one day when they're late for the bus and you have to haul them it will be. Another is how many kids are on the block and what schools do they go to. Will your kids have a nearby source of friends their age that are also classmates? Again not real important, unless all the kids on the block are all older kids looking to pick on the younger kid, or the kid that goes to a different school.
Bottom line is that a school does not educate a child alone. It starts with the parents and the environment we create. Build your kid a "tool box" and fill it with "tools", then teach him how to use the "tools". Then add a little hope and prayer and all will be well.
As for me, I think the neighbors are great. I like the group of kids on the block (for the most part) and my kids keep getting bigger and smarter everyday. I like F'dale and will keep it for a while.
Oh, yeah...since this is my first post...hello all!
Off my soapbox now...carry on.
Sorry Glad2Bhere, I've got to defend my hamlet here and disagree with you. "Absolutely" is a pretty strong word.
I guess what I really meant to stress is that HHH has such a great reputation, resale is usually a safer bet with HHH. My point isn't to say your children aren't getting a good education or that Farmingdale has undesirable schools, but overall people don't talk about Farmingdale's great sd like they do HHH and was just sharing that with the OP.
But of course they should do their own research and weigh the pros and cons of both.
Last edited by Glad2BHere; 02-24-2008 at 08:10 PM..
I guess what I really meant to stress is that HHH has such a great reputation, resale is usually a safer bet with HHH. My point isn't to say your children aren't getting a good education or that Farmingdale has undesirable schools, but overall people don't talk about Farmingdale's great sd like they do HHH and was just sharing that with the OP.
But of course they should do their own research and weigh the pros and cons of both.
Absolutely no offense taken.
Just trying to present an alternate view and add a little "food for thought". As you say balancing the pros and cons is an important part of the process.
My wife and I are about to go to contract on a home on reeves off melville road through a private transaction. I was led to believe that this being HHH school district is a big plus over farmingdale. My wife graduated Farmingdale High school in 1996 and did not want to purchase a home with this school district because she said the school is going down hill. Do you agree with this and did you have kids who went to FHS before your move? I am asking this before we go to contract because there are alot of cheaper homes than the one we are buying in the FHS district vs HHH district. Thanks.
As has been discussed HHH district has a superior reputation to the F'dale district.
There are a few other things though that I'm curious about.
If Reeves and Melville are where I think they are then you may be directly in the approach to Republic. Have you seen any planes coming in? Obviously planes can be very noisy especially when the corporate jets are coming in and out in the morning and evening. Of course, I have friends in Howard Beach that don't even notice the planes anymore. It's all very much an individual thing.
Also on another noise potential (again if I'm thinking about the right spot), how far off of Melville? If I'm not mistaken it's a fairly long block that comes to a dead end. Behind the dead end is a BJ's and a Lowe's. They're not a visual eyesore, but potential noise from truck traffic could be a factor.
Thanks Liltown and Glad. Liltownblues you know the area well and the owner of the home who is a friend of ours told us about the planes and the pcrichard warehouse in back of her yard. My wife is very anti FHS compared to HHH. She did well in the schools, went off to college and has a fine job now but she seems to think despite the schools efforts that gangs will be a problem there in the future. I don't know if she's right but I think unfortunately all areas in Long Island are game for gangs.
When I was dating my wife I would drive down conklin to get to her house from 110. That pickup site right by the diner always had alot of day laborers and I never got a good feeling over there. Do you know liltown if farmingdale is going to change this or is this something that farmingdale people expect to persist or get worse over the years?
Thanks Liltown and Glad. Liltownblues you know the area well and the owner of the home who is a friend of ours told us about the planes and the pcrichard warehouse in back of her yard. My wife is very anti FHS compared to HHH. She did well in the schools, went off to college and has a fine job now but she seems to think despite the schools efforts that gangs will be a problem there in the future. I don't know if she's right but I think unfortunately all areas in Long Island are game for gangs.
When I was dating my wife I would drive down conklin to get to her house from 110. That pickup site right by the diner always had alot of day laborers and I never got a good feeling over there. Do you know liltown if farmingdale is going to change this or is this something that Farmingdale people expect to persist or get worse over the years?
If you haven't yet, try to spend some time getting a feel for the noise level of the planes. A lot of people don't mind the noise, but I think it would drive me nuts.
I think you're right about gangs being a problem all over the Island. I also think it's a problem that transcends schools. Be that as it may, I would say that it is more likely for F'dale schools to have that as an issue before HHH will. I think that's primarily due to economic factors, and how the two school districts are drawn geographically. There have been several rumors of gang activity in FHS over the past few years. But honestly, if it is a true and major issue then I've failed to see it. Most of the kids I speak to say it's more about wannabe's then anything real. There even was a shooting rumor a year ago, that a latin gang was going to come shoot up the school. Obviously, I'm concerned about these things and did an awful lot of follow up with the PD until I got details. As it turned out the threat was started by a young man saying dumb things to act tough and who was anything but latin, and comes from a fairly well known and liked family in the area. In this case the rumor was absolutely nothing. However on the other hand, there was an incident 2 years ago that someone was arrested at a Football game for having a gun. That was absolutely true, however I don't believe it was a FHS student.
You've also mentioned something that I feel is directly related to the negative issues and that's the day laborer situation. As a previous poster mentioned, the Village of Farmingdale has taken steps to reduce this activity. Many people have referred to it a the Secatogue situation. It does still occur, albeit it doesn't seem as prominent as it did a few years ago. There are stats from the Village and NCPD that claim it has dropped in numbers from several hundred to 30 and that is possible.
Where will it all be in the future? Your guess is as good as mine. Farmingdale could certainly go either way over the long haul. There are a lot of "old time" Daler's that say the place is heading down the tubes. They may be right or they may just not like the fact that it's different than it used to be. Even though you'll be technically in East Farmingdale, you should come by and pick up some local neighborhood papers. There is a Mayoral election this year in the Village and the mud is flying fast and furious. You need to balance what you read against the fact that it is local politics, never a clean game. But, good info and knowledge can come from it. Also, whatever is happening in the Village is going to be an impact to all F'dale residents in terms of quality of life. Day laborers causing controversy - bad....New business coming in - good...and so on. For example, there is a Croxley's ale House coming to Main St. - good...the day laborer argument continues- bad.
For deeper research try talking to Nassau PD 8th precinct about the area. I'm sure they'll be happy to help or at least provide some stats for you. you can check with Suffolk PD too, but much more territory in Nassau.
... (Y)ou can check with Suffolk PD too, but much more territory in Nassau.
When I look at the maps, it appears that more of the "Farmingdale, NY 11735" ZIP Code postal zone is in the Hamlet of East Farmingdale in the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County than is in the Village of Farmingdale, the Hamlet of South Farmingdale and the Hamlet of Plainedge in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County combined.
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